After losing its two main sellers, how can “Maliuji” solve its traffic dilemma?

"Mah Liu Ji's traffic dilemma is highlighted, and marketing transformation is imminent." With Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei's accounts blocked, why did Mah Liu Ji fall into a traffic dilemma? What were its previous traffic sources and sales models? How should it cope with current challenges and achieve sustainable development?

It was a farce that ended with the account being blocked.

Recently, Douyin banned the accounts of Zhang Lan, Wang Xiaofei and others, sparking heated discussions across the Internet. Prior to this, after Big S passed away, Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were suspected of still taking advantage of her traffic and posting hype videos, which once aroused public anger.

As Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were blocked, the brand "Maliuji" that relied on their traffic for its development was also caught up in this public opinion storm.

For Ma Liuji, new challenges have just begun after losing the direct source of traffic.

01 Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were banned

Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei’s Douyin accounts have been blocked.

On February 8, Douyin issued an announcement stating that accounts such as “Zhang Lan·Qiao Life”, “Wang Xiaofei”, “Zhang Lan’s Yue Selection”, and “I am Xia Xiaojian” used the deceased to maliciously hype and market, recommended false videos to obtain commercial benefits, and repeatedly published false and infringing content and engaged in illegal hype. They did not correct their behavior after being punished, and were given the penalty of indefinite suspension.

After Big S's unexpected death, Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were suspected of still exploiting Big S and grabbing her last bit of traffic value, which aroused public anger.

After Douyin banned Zhang Lan, platforms such as Weibo and Video Account also announced their handling measures. Although they did not ban the account, they also took relevant restrictive measures, such as suspending the live broadcast function of Zhang Lan's Weibo account.

According to media reports, Zhang Lan said she "disagrees and does not accept" the Douyin account ban. She also admitted that she did not verify the authenticity of the relevant videos with "I am Xia Xiaojian" and Wang Xiaofei. But she also said that "I am Xia Xiaojian" is not her "godson" as rumored online, nor is he an employee of Ma Liuji.

Regarding the ban, Li Liang, vice president of Douyin Group, posted on Weibo that the incident originated from the video "Wang Xiaofei chartered a plane for Big S's ashes" released by "I am Xia Xiaojian" on February 5. Zhang Lan liked and recommended the video, and the related topic became a hot search. Afterwards, Big S's family and the charter company came forward to refute the rumors.

Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were blocked, and this traffic farce finally came to an end. On the Internet platform, many netizens said that "it is very gratifying", while others said that "the traffic was originally obtained by consuming Jia Shi (Big S), and now being blocked is a kind of backlash."

Losing the account that she had worked hard on for more than two years and had nearly 10 million fans was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Zhang Lan. However, after being blocked, Zhang Lan did not sit idle and immediately changed her position to broadcast.

According to Xinbang, on the evening of February 8, Zhang Lan switched to the video live broadcast room and started broadcasting on the account "Maliu Food". In a short period of time, the number of viewers exceeded 300,000. Zhang Lan mentioned in the live broadcast room that "Maliuji" hot and sour noodles quickly sold 10,000 servings, but the live broadcast room was soon closed and could not be viewed, suspected of being blocked; on the evening of February 9, according to a video circulated online, Zhang Lan started broadcasting on Kuaishou and started selling goods.

02 How to solve the traffic dilemma?

After Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were banned, another topic of discussion was the future of "Maliuji". You know, Maliuji is a brand that became popular with traffic.

Ma Liuji was founded on December 10, 2020 by Wang Xiaofei and his mother Zhang Lan. It specializes in Sichuan cuisine such as maoxuewang, spicy chicken, and boiled fish. As of the end of 2023, Ma Liuji's public information shows that it has about 17 offline stores in China, mainly distributed in first-tier and new first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.

In November 2022, the divorce dispute between Big S and Wang Xiaofei resurfaced on the Internet, and related topics dominated the hot searches on Weibo for many consecutive days, triggering "everyone eating melons". At this time, Wang Xiaofei's mother Zhang Lan took advantage of the popularity to start a live broadcast on Douyin. On the surface, she wanted to confide her family affairs to netizens, but in fact, she was doing it to bring goods. Data shows that on November 23 alone, the sales volume of Zhang Lan's live broadcast room exceeded 250,000 and the sales revenue exceeded 10 million. The best-selling product was Ma Liuji hot and sour noodles.

After enjoying the traffic dividend, whenever there is news about Big S, there will inevitably be Zhang Lan's shadow.

Weibo blogger @有艾小羊 posted a message saying: "Zhang Lan's business model is single, and Wang Xiaofei loses money on everything he invests in, which makes them too eager to maintain the popularity of live streaming sales." Repeatedly taking advantage of Big S's traffic, they tasted the sweetness early on and successfully converted it into sales.

According to Feigua data, in 2024, the sales of "Maliuji" on Douyin exceeded 100 million yuan, and the account with the most sales was "Maliuji Official Flagship Store", followed by Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei's personal accounts; from 2025 to the present, the sales of "Maliuji" have reached 10 million to 25 million, and Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei's two accounts contributed nearly half.

Before Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei's accounts were banned, Ma Liuji's live streaming sales mainly relied on these two and the traffic they brought.

After Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei were banned, the sales of "Maliuji Official Flagship Store" dropped significantly in the past two days. On February 7, the sales of Maliuji were 1 million to 2.5 million; on the 8th, the sales were 250,000 to 500,000, a drop of more than half; on the 9th, the sales were only 25,000 to 50,000.

Now, for Ma Liuji, after losing the direct source of traffic, new challenges have just begun.

Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association, once mentioned that Ma Liuji's business model is an online and offline integration model. Online, it accumulates fans through social media platforms such as live broadcast rooms, builds brand influence, and realizes product sales; offline, it provides consumers with personal experience through physical stores to further consolidate the brand image.

Zhu Keli believes: "This model relies heavily on the traffic of the live broadcast room. Once the traffic of the live broadcast room declines or consumers' enthusiasm for online purchases decreases, Ma Liuji's sales performance may be greatly affected."

Therefore, the challenge facing Ma Liuji is the need to quickly adjust its marketing strategy and find alternative sales channels and promotional methods, such as strengthening cooperation with other anchors and increasing promotion efforts. It also needs to re-evaluate its dependence on live streaming, diversify risks, and reduce reliance on a single marketing method.

On the evening of February 9, many stores under Ma Liu Ji started live streaming on Douyin, carrying out a large-scale live streaming of goods in a "matrix-style" manner. After searching for live streaming data related to "Ma Liu Ji" on Xinbochang, it was found that there were 48 related accounts, with the number of fans ranging from a few thousand to 10,000 or 20,000.

Judging from the sales of the entire brand, it seems that it has not been affected too much at present. Data shows that on February 8 and 9, the total sales of "Ma Liu Ji" still reached 2.5 million to 5 million. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of live broadcast rooms with goods, and the increase in sales from product cards.

Taking February 9 as an example, the sales of merchandise cards on that day were "1 million to 2.5 million", while on the 7th it was "250,000 to 500,000".

It can be said that the more popular Ma Liu Ji was when it relied on traffic to become popular, the more controversial it is now. In the past two years, we have also seen other brands that have failed in their pursuit of traffic and tried to gain popularity.

But the tide will eventually recede. For brands, "riding on traffic" is only temporary after all, and it is easy to be hit by traffic backlash.